PPL reveals the Christmas chart of Christmas charts

Exclusive analysis of PPL airplay data reveals most played Christmas number one songs of the last decade.

Clean Bandit’s ‘Rockabye’ featuring Sean Paul and Anne‑Marie is the most played Christmas number one of the last ten years, according to data released today by recorded music licensing company PPL.

For the purposes of this chart, a Christmas number one has been defined as the single that was at the number one position in the Official UK Singles Chart on the 25 December.

PPL analysed the airplay (UK TV and Radio) data from December of the year in which each track reached number one in the UK charts, to ascertain the most-played top ten chart of Christmas number ones for the past decade.

Clean Bandit’s hit ‘Rockabye’ tops the PPL Christmas Number One Airplay Chart. The single, originally released in October 2016, became the first song in chart history to become Christmas number one after already being at the top of the chart for six weeks. The song spent nine weeks at the top of the Official UK Singles Chart in total.

Ed Sheeran’s song ‘Perfect’ is number two in the PPL chart. The single from his third studio album ‘Divide’ reached Christmas number one in 2017.

The Christmas number one slot has been hotly contested in recent years with X Factor winners appearing four times in the top ten.

The first X Factor entry on the PPL Christmas Number One Airplay Chart is Alexandra Burke, who takes the number three spot in PPL’s chart with her 2008 version of ‘Hallelujah’, the iconic Leonard Cohen track. In the same year, Jeff Buckley’s version of the song charted at number two, which meant that two versions of the same song took the top two spots – the first time since Tommy Steele and Guy Mitchell managed the feat with Singin’ The Blues, in January 1957. Cohen’s original version charted at number 36, which was the first time that Cohen’s song had featured in the UK top 40 since its release in 1984.

Charity singles and social media campaigns have had a clear impact on the most talked about chart number one slot of the year. In 2009, a campaign encouraging music lovers in the UK to make American band Rage Against the Machine Christmas number one contributed to X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s ‘The Climb’ missing out on the top spot.

Commenting on the chart, PPL Chief Executive Officer Peter Leathem, said: “Music is a huge part of what makes Christmas such a traditional landmark in everyone’s year. Christmas and music really do go hand-in-hand and Christmas charts are always much anticipated and talked about. It’s always fascinating to see the song that comes out on top, but particularly which recordings get played as well.

The festive period is a great time to reflect – and I am delighted that we have been able to use our data to give this insight into the most‑played Christmas number ones over the last decade.”

For media enquiries, contact Andrew Ames (PPL Senior Communications and Marketing Manager) at Andrew.Ames@ppluk.com / 020 7534 1368